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this little dude was a model for a 1:1 mentorship, but ohhhh how we loved him- so I had to share my favorites.  check out that amazing hair and skin <3

 

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a little q +a:

 

I’m going to answer these 3 questions in full below. I am saying this in the most loving way possible, not out of annoyance, but because I really want people to understand! <3 I always feel like I am “shorting” people by giving quick 1 sentence answers on my page.

My top 3 questions I get asked (usually at least one of these on every photo) are:

1) what lens is this?
2) what f/stop do you shoot at?
3) …miscellaneous “how do you…” skin questions

Here’s the secret:  80% of beautiful newborn photography is an understanding of light. Before you worry about how to place every finger and toe, how to do ‘froggy’ pose, how to remove red from skin, etc… look at photos you love from people you admire. Where is the light coming from? (hint: it’s always opposite the most shadowy point.) Is the light soft and diffuse? Deep and contrasty? How might you achieve that light? You can answer a lot of these questions for yourself with a window, a baby doll, and a white sheet. Hang up and take down sheer layers. Change the angle of your subject to the light source. Snap photos. Compare.

1) what lens is this?

It doesn’t matter. Mostly.

You can shoot with a 50 (like I do) a 35 (many do) or a 24-70 and achieve wonderful- but different – results. I always answer lens questions because it’s true, lens choice can make for a different feel! But all are capable of producing beauty. It is not what makes or breaks the creation of a beautiful image.

2) what f/stop do you shoot at?

This one cracks me up. Do people usually just put their camera at one aperture and shoot an entire session? During the average newborn session, I shoot a huge range of f/stops, ranging from the occasional uber dreamy f/1 shots to sibling shots at 2.8, macros at 5+ and allll the apertures in between. Based on how far I am from the subject and if the subjects eyes are on the same plane (ie, can both eyes be in focus at the same time from this angle?) and even what focal point am I using, as in, I rarely trust f/1 to anything but center focal points. Nothing will give you a better understanding of what the “best” aperture is for your work besides practice! I run in to people on both ends of the spectrum, those who are astounded that I sometimes take shots wiiiiide open in the low 1’s and those who are taken aback that I am *not* shooting wide open for the majority of shots. There is no right or wrong, here. Light placement contributes a lot to that ‘dreamy’ effect!

3) How do you “do” skin?

If you *want* to see exactly how I do skin, there’s an editing video in my shop for $35. But I say it there, and I say it here, SKIN IS 80% GOOD LIGHT. Sure, the rare very rashy/pimply baby happens, but you would be amazed at what a 20 degree light rotation can do for making skin editing easier. Keeping too much of baby in shadow when it’s not intended can make for muddy/hard to clean up skin, as can underexposing too much, harsh light, and bad angles. Aside from that, making skin pretty is not a ‘quick fix’ thing… there’s no miracle cure, photoshop tool, or plugin that makes things instant. Retouching photos takes time… zooming in, patch tool’ing, labor intensive time. No way around it.

<3 <3 <3
I love having cheerleaders who are curious, supportive and active on this page- so thank you to anyone who comments! 😀 I hope this helps someone<3